Undesigning the Spa
The Pool House at the Forest Spa
Creating the Forest Spa at Middleton Lodge
What transforms a spa from a checklist of treatments to a true sanctuary – an experience that lingers in your mind long after you leave?
When I designed the Forest Spa at Middleton Lodge, I knew I wanted to create something different. Not the typical hotel spa with sleek chrome fixtures, a turquoise pool and a hurried rush to get your money’s worth, but a space for guests to slow down, breathe, pause and reconnect with something deeper.
“a place that helps bring my fundamental sense of who I am into focus. A place that awakens me to my intrinsic earthy, sensual, and reverential nature. ”
The guiding vision
Two ideas guided my approach: Forest Bathing (immersing oneself in nature to foster calm and clarity), and the concept of Undesign (Leonard Koren’s pared back, deeply resonant design philosophy).
This line stayed with me throughout, and is the essence of what I wanted to achieve. I wanted guests to feel completely nurtured, to create a space which is something really special, sacred even, an opportunity to return to self.
Yoga at the forest spa
The design approach
Every element was intentional – designed to bring you back into your body: purification, thermal stimulation, a sense of safety and timelessness so you can truly relax, and a deep connection to nature.
Natural materials - weathered wood, whitewashed panelling, traditional stone walls made with stone sourced from the estate to create a soothing neutral palette
A unified aesthetic : natural greens from the planting referenced in the uniforms and the spa’s branding linking nature seamlessly with the design.
Subtle layers of detail include pressed herbs and wildflowers I picked and pressed for the walls, poetry tucked into frames and on product cards given after a treatment, the earthy tadelatkt in the steam room scented with rosemary, a motif carried through the spa’s visual identity.
Nature is woven through every element: lavender, rosemary, mint and scented white roses planted around the pool, blurring the boundaries between inside and out. Even the copper foot bowls I sourced nod to the landscape’s history – copper mined here once funded the building of the estate’s original house.
The four elements: a sacred thread
I consciously referenced the four elements throughout every part of the experience:
· Earth: the grounded palette, the stone, the planting inside and out, even the products used in treatments have an earthiness to them.
· Water: the outdoor pool, the plunge pool, hot tubs, private baths, and steam
· Fire: candles flickering away and wood burning stoves stocked with wood from the estate
· Air: a cool breeze from the fields and hills beyond, carrying the scent of lavender and rosemary from the gardens
It is also about allowing space to let things happen - and noticing them. Seeing the steam rising off the heated outdoor pool in the morning light, swimming in the pool as the snowflakes fall into the water, or sunlight dancing off the ceiling in the poolhouse – it still takes my breath away. The spa needed to work all year round, and the connection with outside works in all weathers - turned into a virtue – there is something incredibly magical about swimming in a heated pool while snowflakes fall into the water as you swim towards the fires at either end of the pool, or sitting in the sheltered outdoor hot tub as rain pitter patters all around, before going inside to sit by a roaring fire in your robe. Sitting by the pool on a lounger amongst scented roses and lavender is pretty fabulous on a warm sunny day, but when the weather takes a turn, the space really comes into its own.
Poolhouse lounge
Beyond aesthetics: creating a feeling
The spa unfolds like a journey. From the moment guests arrive, shedding coats, and shoes, welcomed in with hushed voices and a shot of freshly blended smoothie – a subtle signal you’ve stepped into a different rhythm.
The experience is shaped through thoughtful little rituals: being guided to your treatment hut and having your feet gently cleansed in a copper bowl before your treatment begins; a moment to sit afterwards in a relaxation room filled with soft cushions, refreshments laid waiting. You are invited to linger, to notice the small moments—the hush of the trees, the birdsong. I’ve considered every touchpoint, from playlists to products, planting to poetry, ensuring the design intent and guest experience are aligned at every level.
Great design isn’t just about how a place looks – it’s about how it makes you feel. And in the forest spa is this distilled and amplified. In my view, a spa should be a sanctuary where every element works in harmony, allowing guests to linger, breathe more deeply, and fully relax.
Looking across the pool to the thermal spa
Thoughtful partnerships
I created strategic partnerships to complement the spa’s ethos:
Voya: organic seaweed based products (a bathing experience includes literally bathing in seaweed!) – connecting back to the purity of water and nature.
Aromatherapy Associates – botanical, effective, and B-Corp certified, aligning with our commitment to integrity and sustainability.
Solaris Tea - organic tea blends by herbalists to support each Chakra of the body
Even the food offering was designed to harmonise – light, seasonal, nourishing, and where possible homegrown or foraged in the estate’s kitchen gardens and orchard.
Noticing all the little details
From hand stencilling the room names onto the hut doors and wooden key fobs, to picking and pressing flowers for the walls, and finding resonant quotes to put on product cards and poems for the walls, creating playlists and curating the room scents - it’s all in the details, the things you touch, taste, smell, read, the ideas this leads you to - what you notice when you’ve slowed right down, and are just able to just be in the space.
The result?
A spa that doesn’t just look beautiful, but feels quietly, intentionally different. Becoming more than the sum of its parts - which are actually quite simple - it is an experience - of sanctuary, depth, and discovery - a place where guests linger longer than planned, breathe more deeply, and return again and again.
